For those of you who want a scorecard to keep track of the names, here are the folks who make an appearance throughout this website. Included is a brief description of each as they relate to Charles Makley. This section will continue to be updated as new articles are added.
Ed Axe – A member of an earlier Charles Makley gang circa 1926 – 1928. Axe participated in the Ansonia bank robbery, several car thefts and other burglaries in Northwest Ohio. It seems likely that he was also in on the Linn Grove and Portland, Indiana bank robberies as well. Axe confessed and was convicted of robbing the Chickasaw, Ohio bank. Sent to the Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus, he perished during the April 21, 1930 prison fire.
Mildred Barthelemy – The half or step sister of Charles Makley, she traveled from Kansas to Ohio for her brother’s murder trial. Afterwards Mildred visited him at the Ohio State Penitentiary. She was a single mother working as a waitress to support herself and her son but she gladly spent her savings of three hundred dollars on attorney’s fees for Makley’s appeals. Mildred even made sure that Charles’ suit was dry-cleaned for his court appearances and generally did whatever she could to keep him from the electric chair.
Mason Beasley – A Detective Sergeant of the Hammond, Indiana police department, he started investigating Charles Makley and his gang in March of 1927 as suspects of the first of two Linn Grove, Indiana bank robberies.
Ernest Botkin – Prosecuting attorney for Allen County, Ohio at the trials of Harry Pierpont, Charles Makley, Russell Clark and earlier, Loren Truesdale. A graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Botkin was also a Justice of the Peace and worked in private practice throughout Ohio for a majority of his career.
E. Borchard – Author of Convicting the Innocent, 1932, Garden City, New York, Doubleday Company
Russell Clark – One of the members of the “first” Dillinger gang, Clark received a guilty verdict with a recommendation of mercy for the murder of Jesse Sarber. He served out a life sentence at the Ohio State penitentiary.
John W. Cook – Chief of Police for the City of Lima, Ohio until 1934. At the time of Jesse Sarber’s murder, he led the search party at the farm of Harry Pierpont’s parents. Cook was a key witness in the trial of Harry Pierpont.
Harry Copeland – A bank robber who was involved with John Dillinger through November 1933, he was identified by Wilbur Sharp as one of the three men who entered the sheriff’s office. Sharp testified that it was Copeland who held a gun on him during Jesse Sarber’s murder. Copeland never stood trial for that crime and was later released from prison in 1949.
Otis Custer – Another of Charles Makley’s St. Marys Ohio crew, Otis had been indicted for burglary but plea bargained to a charge of receiving stolen property in June of 1928. His attorney “expressed the belief that his client was not guilty of the theft of the provisions from the St. Marys warehouse but that a man now held in Decatur, Indiana (Charles Makley) had done the work and carried the loot to Custer’s mother’s house. Custer pled guilty in order to save his mother from full responsibility in the receipt of goods.”
John Dillinger – A fellow prisoner, gang member and friend of Charles Makley. When Makley learned of Dillinger’s death, he said “As a man, you could be proud to have called John brother.”
Emmit Everett – Judge for the murder trials of Harry Pierpont, Charles Makley and Russell Clark in March 1934. He also presided over the first trial which ended in a mistrial for Loren Truesdale in 1932. A different judge replaced Everett for the second Truesdale trial.
Claude Euclid – A bootlegger who was being held in the Allen County jail during the October 12, 1933 breakout of John Dillinger. Euclid testified at the Harry Pierpont trial.
Fred W. Ficketi – A judge in Pima County, Arizona who directed a verdict for Lucy Sarber in the amount of $30,000.00 in damages for her civil lawsuit against Harry Pierpont, Charles Makley, and Russell Clark for the death of her husband, Jesse Sarber. But when Lucy tried to collect, there was nothing left to get. It had all vanished.
William Fogerty – He was one of three defense attorneys for Harry Pierpont and Charles Makley at their Lima, Ohio murder trials. Although a lawyer, Fogerty did not normally practice criminal law. Instead he worked for the bank that Harry Pierpont’s parents patronized in Indiana. His late addition to the defense team shows how desperate the situation had become.
John Hamilton – The only member, besides John himself, who was in the “first” and “second” Dillinger gangs. Hamilton was named by Ed Shouse as one of the lookouts during John Dillinger’s Lima jail break. No other witnesses placed him there.
Della Harr – A first cousin of Charles Makley, she strongly objected to the possibility of his burial in St. Marys, Ohio because the Makleys there had “cared little for him during his life.”
John Keville – President of the Citizen’s and Taxpayer’s League in Lima, Ohio, he was one of the most vocal in objecting to Charles W. Long representing Harry Pierpont and Charles Makley during their murder trials.
Jessie Levy – Another of the defense attorneys for Harry Pierpont, Charles Makley, and Russell Clark at their respective murder trials in Lima, Ohio. Miss Levy handled most of the actual trial work for all three cases. She was based out of Indiana.
Harry Lewis – The Allen County Coroner and undertaker who conducted the autopsy for Jesse Sarber. He testified at the trials of Pierpont, Makley, and Clark.
Eugene Lippincott – Charles Makley’s initial attorney for his murder trial. Lippincott lasted two to three weeks before dropping out.
Charles W. Long – Solicitor for the city of Lima, he also freelanced as a defense attorney. His clients included Harry Pierpont, Charles Makley, and Loren Truesdale. Afterwards, Long left Lima, Ohio and relocated to Indiana.
Charles Makley – The subject of this website. After he gained notoriety, it was claimed by some in St. Mary’s that Makley was actually a foster child who had been adopted by Edward Makley. This might explain why the local newspapers variously described his siblings as “half” or “step” and would routinely misspell his last name as Makeley.
Edith A. Slife Makley – Sister-in-law, fellow gang member, and who knows whatever else to Charles Makley. She was named by other of Makley’s gang as having participated in the Ansonia, Ohio bank robbery. Edith remained married to Fred Makley until her death in 1969.
Fred Makley – The self-described step brother of Charles Makley and husband of Edith Makley, Fred worked in the 1920’s and 30’s as a chair maker. He was the sole defense witness during Charles Makley’s murder trial.
George W.Makley – Another half brother or step brother of Charles Makley, George was incarcerated in the Ohio State Penitentiary from 1932 to 1936.
Anna McGray – Listed as the wife of Charles W. McGray (aka Charles Makley) in January 1920, Chicago, Illinois.
Charles W. McGray – Alias of Charles Makley circa 1920 to 1924. If the foster child story is correct, Gray was Makley’s true surname.
Clarence Miller – The third defense attorney and the only one based in Lima, Ohio. Miller was initially hired to represent Russell Clark. At 28 years of age, he did a lot of watching from the sidelines as Jessie Levy took over the case and the subsequent appeals.
Frank Morris MD – The doctor who testified at the Charles Makley trial, Morris attended the autopsy of Jesse Sarber.
Florence Naus – Half or stepsister of Charles Makley, she also made the trip with Mildred from Kansas to Ohio for her brother’s murder trial and later on to his funeral. Interestingly, she had named one of her three sons Charles.
Albert Owens – The alias used by Charles Makley when arrested in Hammond, Indiana on June 2, 1928 for bank robbery.
Harry Pierpont – A fellow gang member and friend of Charles Makley. Both were sentenced to die in the electric chair for Jesse Sarber’s murder. In the end, Pierpont was the only one who kept the date. According to a reliable source, Pierpont arranged for his family to pay for Charles Makley’s funeral. His sisters had run out of money and his brother George was still in prison. No one else came forward. This is why he is buried at the Sugar Ridge Cemetery in Leipsic, Ohio.
Lena Pierpont - The devoted mother of Harry Pierpont, Lena stood by her son to the bitter end.
Don Sarber - The only child of Jesse and Lucy Sarber, Don graduated college with an engineering degree. During school breaks, he would work as a fill-in deputy. After his father’s death, Don became sheriff. At the age of 24, he was the youngest sheriff in the United States at the time.
Jesse Sarber – The Sheriff of Allen County in Lima, Ohio from 1929 through 1933, Sarber died on October 12, 1933 during the jail break of John Dillinger.
Lucy Sarber – The wife of Jesse Sarber, Lucy was the jail matron from 1929 through 1935. After her husband was killed, friends of the Sarbers initially suggested Lucy as the replacement for sheriff but questions were raised concerning her fitness. Lucy was one of two eyewitnesses who testified at the Pierpont, Makley, and Clark trials.
Wilbur Sharp – Deputy Sheriff in Lima, Ohio, Sharp was the other eyewitness who testified during the three Jesse Sarber murder trials. Sharp had known and worked for Jesse Sarber over the past nine years both in law enforcement and the used car business.
Edward Shouse – Supposedly such a good friend of Charles Makley that he didn’t want to testify against him, Shouse didn’t have a problem being the stool pigeon at the Pierpont and Clark murder trials. Evidently on July 26, 1945 when reviewing old grand jury indictments, Lima officials didn’t look too hard for Shouse when they stated that he had disappeared. Shouse was at the same place that he had been for the past thirteen years, Michigan City prison. He was released the following year.
Harry Smith - A member of an earlier Charles Makley gang circa 1926 – 1928, Smith was convicted of robbing the Chickasaw, Ohio bank although he was suspected of participating in other bank jobs (Linn Grove, Indiana,1927 and possibly Portland, Indiana, 1926). Smith was arrested in Columbus, Ohio, brought to Celina, Ohio to stand trial and then sent back to the Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus, where he perished during the April 21, 1930 prison fire.
Howard "Sport" Smith - Another member of the St. Marys, Ohio/Hammond, Indiana- based Charles Makley gang. “Sport” was convicted of robbing the Ansonia, Ohio bank and was a suspect in at least one other bank robbery. As an interesting side note, he claimed to be the younger brother of Harry Smith. This turns out to be untrue. However newspapers picked up on his story and reported that "Sport" joined his "brother" to the Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus. "Sport" survived the April 21, 1930 prison fire.
W.O. Smith – The First National Bank of St. Mary’s Ohio Conservator, Smith readily identified Charles Makley as one of the participants of the October 3, 1933 robbery.
T.R. Thomas MD – The principal doctor who attended Jesse Sarber at Memorial Hospital the night of October 12, 1933, he testified at the Pierpont, Makley, and Clark trials.
Earl Truesdale – The victim of a double homicide on May 30, 1931. Later on, his older brother became the key suspect. At the time, it was called “Lima’s Perfect Crime.”
Loren Truesdale – The older brother of Earl Truesdale, Loren put the notoriety of his two murder trials behind him and stayed in the Lima area until his death.
James Weadock JR. – The attorney for Machenzia, Weadock, and Weadock of Tucson, he was the solicitor who represented Lucy Sarber in her civil lawsuit against Pierpont, Makley, Clark, and Dillinger. Weadock came to the Lima, Ohio murder trials and took depositions of the witnesses.
Thelma Woods – The other victim of the double homicide on May 30, 1931 in Lima, Ohio. Thelma was out on her first date with a new beau. The crime which later came to be known as the The Quarry or Memorial Day Murders was never solved.
Herbert Youngblood – The only prisoner who escaped along with John Dillinger from Crown Point jail, Youngblood was trapped in a fatal shoot-out with police the same day Charles Makley’s case went to jury deliberation.
Lloyd Ziegler – Convict who served time in Mansfield Prison, Mansfield, Ohio. Ziegler confessed at several different times to the murders of Thelma Woods and Earl Truesdale.
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